Spell Effects

A long list of common effects and their level. Effects not on this list are encouraged; we want to see them, so long as they fit the call system with a bit of shoehorning. These mostly constitute effects already in the system, to provide examples of the approximate level of effects.

Note: The system we have is very new, and needs a lot of playtesting. As such, these effects and levels are meerely guidelines rather than hard and fast rules. Spells that are unbalanced will be altered so as not to break the system, some things are just not possible or silly (Wide talk to inanimate, for example). This page will be rather heavily revised as playtesting happens. All new spells must be run through the ref team before use.

Level 1

 

• +1 degree to one type of throwing weapon
• Halt 5
• Talk to rare/useless thing or ask three questions of common/useful thing
• Repair armour
• Repel 5
• Blind 5
• Convert weapon damage to coloured damage
• Subdual by weapon for next blow
• Wide Detect Magic
• Recognise Magic

 

Level 2

 

• Disarm
• Talk to common/useful thing
• Invisibility 10 seconds
• 3m safe travel
• Make something ping to Detect/Recognise Magic
• Strikedown

 

Level 3

 

• Disarm
• +1 degree to one type of 18" or less weapon
• Strikedown 5
• Subdual by weapon for 5 minutes
• Negate one incoming damage call

 

Level 4

 

• +1 degree to one type of 42" or less weapon
• 10m safe travel
• Negate the next incoming call
• Make something not ping to Detect/Recognise Magic

 

Level 5

 

• Freeze 10
• +2 degrees to a projectile weapon
• Take one degree less of damage from this element

 

Level 6

 

• +1 degree to one type of weapon (any size)
• Negate one chosen call
• Absorb mana from a willing target

 

Level 7

 

• Strikedown by touch or weapon, 5mins
• Storm (6 x level 3 effects, damage costs +1 level)
• Half damage from weapons
• Retributive Colour Double for five minutes
• Take half effect from magic-caused effect calls
• Extend spell duration to an hour

 

Level 8

 

• Wide Strikedown 10
• Immunity to ranged weapons
• Invisiblity 1 hour
• Cure Sufficient on an elf
• Steal mana from an unwilling but unresisting target

 

Level 9

 

• Divide damage by 6

 

Level N

 

• N coloured damage (if it stacks - N+1 otherwise)
• N retributive damage
• N subdual damage
• N-1 coloured through damage
• N-3 mass coloured damage
• N-4 mass coloured through damage
• (N/2, round up) coloured damage to two targets
• 2N Armour points
• N-2 points of DAC

 

Add one to level

 

• Do a one-time only buff on three targets instead of one
• Retarget a long call regularly throughout its duration
• Buff a weapon with a call as well as its current damage (rather than instead of)
• Single target to Mass call, anything but Repel
• Add a level of duration
• Weapon damage buff that works on both kinds of weapon

 

Add two to level

 

• Do a self-only buff on someone else
• Target range to Mass range
• Mass range to Wide range
• Effect on one blow to Effect on blow for 5 minutes

 

Subtract one from level

 

• You cannot move for the duration of the buff
• Take the disabling effect call yourself as well
• You cannot use weapons for the duration of the buff
• You cannot cast for the duration of the buff
• Weapon buff only works for your own weapon
• (white only): You need willing allies touching you - for the full effect, more than a usual linearing party
• (black only): Do Black Single Through to limbs touching buffed weapon

 

It is possible to take other drawbacks to lower the level of a spell.

This is a list of which colours are good (read the level from the above list), mediocre (add one), and poor (add two) at which effects. If you wish to research a spell which breaks these limits, by all means send it in and say why.

Fire:

Good at:

 

• Direct damage (Colour N)
• Paired damage (Colour N to two targets)
• Sharp/Metal weapon buffs (includes arrows, bolts and throwing knives, although a different spell is needed for throwing knives than for arrows and bolts)
• Mass damage (Mass Colour N)

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Through damage (may use level-reducing restrictions like 'only people in metal armour are valid targets')
• Close Through damage (ditto)
• Paired Through damage (ditto)
• Disarm (burning hands)
• Strikedown (burning feet)
• Invisibility (heat haze)
• Repel (wave of heat eminates from caster)
• Projectile weapon buffs (the weapon sets its ammunition on fire)
• Retributive damage (fiery aura travels down weapon)
• Convert weapon damage to magic damage (hence available at level 2, before first real weapon buff)
• Subdual damage (heatstroke)
• Blindness (burn out their eyes)
• Talk to Foo (Fire likes to talk about what it has burnt. It's generally not very interesting.)

 

Poor at:

 

• Freeze (people tend to run around and scream instead of hold still, but you can make the surroundings too hot to move into)
• Halt (ditto, just not quite as extreme so they are willing to move their mouths)
• Blunt weapon buffs (the weapons tend to burn, so it takes more control)
• Mend armour (mending stuff not fire's forte, but eventually you can get the hang of reforging)
• Travel (being lifted up on a cloud of flame is really uncomfortable and probably damaging)

 

Probably can't do:

 

• AC (defensive = not really fire's thing)
• DAC (ditto)
• Sanctuary (ditto)
• Negate calls (ditto)

 

Water:

Good at:

 

• Halt
• Talk to Foo
• Disarm
• Strikedown
• Sanctuary (take half/-1 degree/no damage from weapons)
• Freeze
• Invisibility (restriction: must take 'cannot move' restriction with invisiblity to be good at it)
• Repel

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Unrestricted invisibility (refract)
• Mend armour (reshape)
• Weapon buffs on all kinds of weapon (reshape - give them spikes!).
• Possibly even does 'nonmagic' weapon buffs, on account of having changed the weapon's physical form, although might have a level's surcharge for this.
• Blindness (water in your eyes)
• Negate calls (the elemental plane of water is not as good as dark for soaking up spells, but there are plenty of jokes about damping effects to be made)

 

Poor at:

 

• Damage of all kinds (takes an awful lot of force behind water to make it really hurt)
• DAC (it's a reshape self type effect)
• Travel (the water gushing out of the ground to convey you over 30' or so is somewhat inconvenient)
• Projectile weapon buffs (making the bow or crossbow better through reshaping is harder than making the ammo more vicious)

 

Probably can't do:

 

• AC. Water is not hard.
• Convert weapon damage to magic damage.

 

Earth:

Good at:

 

• Blunt/wooden weapon buffs (includes throwing rocks, wooden throwing stakes)
• Talk to Foo
• Mend armour AC
• Strikedown
• Call by blunt weapon (strikedown)

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Sharp/Metal weapon buffs (can make them heavier and hence hit harder)
• Disarm (your weapon is very attracted to the ground right now / Magnetize)
• Sanctuary
• Freeze (turns you to stone)
• Blindness (grit in your eyes)

 

Poor at:

 

• Direct damage of all kinds (making rocks and chucking them at people *unerringly* is a right pain)
• Invisibility. Even at the 'poor' level, restricted to 'sink into the ground/wall/solid thing and stay there', i.e. put your finger in the air, stay where you are and close your eyes, you can just about hear things going on near you.
• Repel. You can get the ground to chivvy your enemies away from you, but it's hard work.
• Halt (coats most of you in a thin layer of stone, rather fiddly to get right)

 

Probably can't do:

 

• Invisibility where you get to move, or where you get to be invisible without anything to hide in.
• DAC. DAC is about moving; Earth is about standing still.
• Travel. Walk through Stone was always a bad idea.
• Projectile weapon buffs. Making your bow or crossbow heavier isn't going to help.
• Negate calls. Stuff bounces off your portal to the plane of Earth.

 

Air:

Good at:

 

• Repel
• Talk to Foo
• Through damage
• Disarm
• DAC
• Travel
• Projectile weapon buffs
• Mass Through damage
• Sanctuary (emphasis on immunity to ranged attack)
• Storm (n charges of n/2 level effect at level n+1, damage costs an extra level)

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Direct damage (sheet lightning) with paired damage and mass damage
• Sharp/Metal weapon buffs (charge them up and have them zot your enemies)
• Freeze (pinned in place by force of air)
• Invisibility (turn self into air)
• Retributive damage (make yourself electically charged!)
• Blindness (lightning to the eyes often offends)

 

Bad at:

 

• Blunt/wooden weapon buffs. It's really hard to get them to hold a charge properly.
• Halt (your nervous system gets shorted out a bit, tricky to get right)
• Negate calls. There's plenty of space in the Plane of Air, but the locals are a bit twitchy about your portal.

 

Air probably just doesn't do:

 

• Mend
• armour AC (Air is even less hard than water)

 

Light:

Good at:

 

• Halt
• Retributive Damage
• Convert damage to magic damage
• Invisibility
• DAC
• Fast Travel
• AC (restriction: must have participants, no more than 2AC available per participant)
• Weapon buffs on all melee weapon types, but only at the 'any size' level
• One-blow damage enhancement (like bladesharp and bludgeon)
• Sanctuary (damage division effects like 1/6 damage from True Aura)
• Weird divination stuff like Farsight

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Direct damage, including Through (but not complicated varieties, just on one target)
• Blindness
• Samctuary
• Repel (reeling away from really bright light)
• Strikedown (startled by illusions)
• Weapon buffs on all melee weapon types, lower than 'any size' level
• AC if unrestricted

 

Bad at:

 

• Complicated direct damage. It took enough research for the High Elves to make light do retributive and through damage.
• Talk to Foo. Light is already telling you basically everything it knows by entering your eyes.
• Disarm. Either you can turn their weapon into light momentarily, or you can attempt to startle them in a very precise way so they drop their weapon. It's quite difficult.
• Freeze. Holding someone absolutely still even when they are concentrating and likely to lash back out against your illusions is difficult; you've got to be really convincing or confusing.

 

Probably can't do:

 

• Mend armour
• Travel. Light finds it quite hard to do heavy lifting.
• Negate calls. It *really* pisses off the inhabitants of the Plane of Light to have it corrupted by people's spare spells.

 

Dark:

Good at:

 

• Subdual Damage
• Blindness
• Weapon buffs on sharp/metal weapons, inc. subdual conversion
• Freeze
• Negate calls

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Direct damage of all kinds (with Close and Paired); can you say 'frostbite'?
• Disarm (your arm is momentarily too weak to carry that)
• Invisibility (restriction: only in the dark)
• AC (restriction: only in the dark - it's a kind of slight invisiblity that makes it harder to see exactly where you are and strike at the good bits)
• DAC (restriction as above)
• Strikedown (your legs no longer support you very well)
• Projectile weapon buffs, transferring their magical chill to their ammunition.

 

Poor at:

 

• Talk to Foo. Darkness will talk to you, but only reluctantly, and should you believe it?
• Sanctuary effects. Darkness isn't much of a shield against steel.
• Repel. Dark doesn't have much pushing power.
• Blunt/wooden weapon buffs. They just don't hold the cold that well.

 

Probably can't do:

 

• Invisibility in the light. You look really stupid cloaked in shadows in the middle of a sunny field.
• Mend armour
• AC and DAC in the light (your outline is generally all they need)
• Travel (darkness doesn't carry people)

 

Grey:

Good at:

 

• Detect/Recognise Magic (and fiddling with the results)
• Negate calls
• Extension
• Heal elves
• Absorb/Steal mana

 

Mediocre at:

 

• Everything else